What you see is what you get……. birds, animals, and all sorts of things, but remember; Work for a cause, not for applause. Live life to express, not to impress. Don't strive to make your presence noticed, just make your absence felt. .

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things:”

I feel a rest from blogging is needed… I need to complete the editing of my book, and the posts you all add are just too good to miss. So what must I do to get the work done? Make a break, switch off the posts and concentrate on the book.

The problem is I’m doing to many rewrites and then rewrites of rewrites and so on and so forth. The breaks are just interfering with the flow of the book and as I have sourced a Editor, I now need to get serious about finishing this work. Am I serious about publishing it? We’ll see what the Editor says. He is an old school friend who is an English major and knows a lot of my background.

There is only one thing to do and that’s to hit the road running and give it a try full time.

I will miss your posts and probably cheat every now and then by popping in to see what I’m missing.

Well, Rob, can’t fault you for that and I sure understand the pull to finish a book! Good luck and if you need to promote it, I can always do a Lorna-style zany interview before or after it is released.

Sorry I can’t catch up on all of your posts–I’m just trying to make an effort to let you know I’m still alive, kicking, and thinking of you!

Mixed emotions on reading this latest news Rob. Sad as we will all miss our Bulldog fix but so excited for you. Wishing you every success with your book and please update your following when the book is completed as it will proudly join our treasured books on the bookshelf. Hug to Linda, too, who will be your right hand no doubt. A wonderful JOURNEY with you both the past two years. Until again dear folk. xx

Will miss you Bulldog, but don’t you worry about us, we will still all be here, as you have all so kindly said to me many times when I’ve had to duck out here and there. I hope your edit goes well, take your time and it’s great to know that have a good friend to help you with all this. There does come a point when you have to do this otherwise it becomes impossible to get it done. I may have to do this at some point soon with my book, but carrying on for now, certainly with my photo challenge posts. Not having my laptop last week made me realise just how behind I was with everything else. Look forward to keeping in touch here and there… 🙂

Thank you… if my editors feel it good enough to publish I will do just that, as yet I lack the confidence that people would be interested in my bush life… the family think it is of interest, but then they’re biased…

Thank you Jacquie… it has been suggested that I post a short bit out of the book every now and then… just so you can see how I’m getting along… I might just do that, but like alcohol it might just get addictive again… lol

Thanks Doris, the need to complete this project is now weighing heavily on my conscious mind.. am I a starter but not a ender with this project? I have to complete now to prove a point to myself, even if I don’t publish…

Good for you, if not you can publish it on your own, lots of people do it many of my friends did, online there are different sites that help you with that, lulu.com is a place where you can do it or amazon too, good luck and have fun!

I admire your drive and dedication, and I can’t wait to read your book! We will all miss you terribly, but I totally understand how blogging can take over. We will be anxiously awaiting your return :).

Yes it is Ronnie, the draft is complete, with some reservations as to include one upcoming event or not. Deciding which photos to include has as yet not happened but the stories are down and up to date… now to knock them into some kind of shape… my biggest problem is, as it has humour in it, is it funny enough without taking away from the story?… Is it really funny? and these are the type things that are causing the rewrites of rewrites, sometimes reverting to the original after a couple of rewrites… crazy concentration required…

I understand completely….I’m writing like a crazy woman right now…I also keep rewriting, so it’s time to bite the bullet and leave it alone already…wish I could find an editor…..Have fun….get into your “zone” and let that bulldog brain go full force…we’ll miss you terribly…xx

I am going to miss you! Best of luck with the editing–that is an exciting project, and definitely a top priority. I do look forward to hearing about your progress. I wish you great success in your writing.

Good for you and good luck to you. I’ll miss you but I’m sure dropping out of blogging is the only way to finish your project. I have a couple of projects rattling around in my brain and I really need to shut myself in a room (without an internet connection) and DO IT. I’ll probably read about you when you are famous but do let your loyal followers know when you publish won’t you?

Famous is not part of the big plan… I would never be able to handle the hype, it is all to ass-kissy… I just want to share my life story as my kids have asked me to do… so that the generations to come in the family will know the life of the Bulldog… and if others enjoy it then that will just be a bargain… but famous ? never…

Serious writing must come first – with few interruptions – even if they are amusing and fun. Mom always said “Eat your dinner, then dessert.” or “Get your work done, then you can play.”
Best of luck and looking forward to seeing you around the blogs

The Walrus and the Carpenter is one of my favourite poems! But I wish you weren’t taking a break from blogging to write. Why not take a break from something else instead? Also, you know whom to call if you need editing advice, right? It’s what I do. Good luck with your writing, Rob.

Thanks Anneli… I thought this friend of mine would be the ideal editor as he knew me in my younger days which I write about in my book and he will also be honest if he thinks it is not worth publishing… I am starting to have doubts in my work… so we will see… I might just take you up on the offer…

We will miss you Bulldog but I find it difficult to get anything else done with all the emails piling up in my in-box, so understand. Your book needs to come first so we will have something wonderful to read down the road. Good luck! 🙂

Good luck with your writing! A while ago I stopped all my email noticiations of blogs I follow, and switched to just using the WordPress Reader, that way I only look at posts when I choose to and don’t get distracted by them popping into my email in box all the time on my phone! Remember I have a “Books by Bloggers” page on my blog, and they’ll be a lovely space waiting there for your book when it’s finished! 🙂

I will miss your humour (as well as the images), but understand completely.

I just had to delete some 58 email notifications of new posts on blogs I follow (unread),as I had (rare) guests for dinner and am just plain too tired to try and catch up on new posts. I usually ‘wipe the inbox clean’ at least once a week nowadays. Trouble is that you lose track of what’s happening on the other side of the world when you stop blog reading.

Glad you have found a good editor; an important step. One does need to concentrate on the writing, though.
I have been trying for a minimum of 1000 words a day just lately, and it does mean blogging has to take more of a back seat.
If you need any tips on practical aspects of layout, etc, give me a shout.

Thanks Col I’ll certainly contact you should I need to… the problem has been I read and then see a few posts have come in, stop and read those first, naturally when one returns the train of though has changed and I begin rewriting again… so have to stop… the first draft is finished and wrote it to get it down not worrying to much about grammar, spelling etc… now its time to shape it and get the story how I want it…

Oh 😦 Or rather, 🙂 for you – I should take a leaf out of your book, because mine has been sitting on a dusty shelf for too long, too. All the best for your exciting project, and don’t hesitate to pop round to my blog for a virtual glass of rosé if you have the time 🙂